pan de piña y piloncillo, or, from Turkey to Mexico by way of Hawaii?

pan de piña y piloncillo, or, from Turkey to Mexico by way of Hawaii?

Hello everyone,Franko very kindly told me about a baking textbook that was available for sale online: On Baking (authors Sarah Labensky, Priscilla Martel, Klaus Tenbergen and Eddie Van Damme).

Happily, I purchased the book, and once it arrived, the first thing I made was Turkish Pide Bread, a round loaf with a pretty, diamond-patterned and sesame-coated crust:

On the weekend, I saw this pineapple pattern on my friend’s tablecloth - it reminded me of the Turkish bread’s crust:

Pineapple bread! I thought…and found a formula for Hawaiian Pineapple Sweet Bread in Advanced Bread and Pastry... and Janie’s recent post about bakers from Mexico got me thinking about Mexican sweets and flavors.Wanting to make this pineapple bread but being short of time, I made a sponge-based version of the ABAP formula, substituting a small amount of medium rye and whole wheat flour, and adding some fresh pineapple (diced, then caramelized with Mexican piloncillo sugar and unsalted butter, then flavored with small amounts of Mexican canela (cinnamon) and vanilla bean paste. This is how the pineapple turned out (yum!):

To make the diamond pattern, I started by rolling with a thin dowel, but this dough was springy and the marks left by the dowel would not remain. I used a bench scraper to impress the diamond pattern on the dough, and went over the pattern a few times during proofing, and one last time, right before the bread went into the oven.

The pineapple flavor completely infused throughout the crumb – loved how this tasted!Here is the crumb: (ice cream drizzled with some of the caramel sauce was a lovely accompaniment)

This is my adaptation of Mr. Suas' formula (1200 grams, to make 2 pineapple breads):

I enjoyed letting my oven 'travel around the world' for this bake :^) (borrowing the phrase from this baker’s post)

With thanks to Mr. Suas for another fantastic formula – will have to try the levain version of his Hawaiian Pineapple Sweet Bread!

Who says bread baking isn't an art form? I am impressed by all that went into the creation of this loaf and I am impressed by the results you got! Lucky are those who got to eat the final result.

Thank you for the detailed write up on how you made this loaf. I do have a couple of questions because I have a daughter who LOVES pineapple which means this is going on my 'to bake' list.

I see that you used an entire pineapple but here is only a weight listed for juice. Where I shop pineapples are very big - like 2-3 pounds which is a lot of pineapple. I also see that you strain it after caramelizing it but I do see large chunks in the crumb shot. Can you give a bit more detail - mostly total weight of the fruit used and % of what gets strained and what doesn't?

Also, I have never seen sugar being held back while mixing but note that you do hold back some and I am curious as to why. ( I hold back on adding honey when I do a rest (autolyze) so the yeast don't get too active but not when just mixing without a prolonged resting phase.)

Again, thanks for sharing this loaf here. It is beautiful and I think the final result looks just perfect :-)

Hi Janet,Thank you so much and it's good to hear you want to make this! :^)Re: fruit preparation, I bought a small pineapple, and was unsure of how the fruit would cook down, so caramelized all of it and didn't juice any (purchased pineapple juice was used in the dough).After I finished cooking the pineapple, I strained off about 3-4 Tablespoons of caramel sauce. I used about 2/3 of the caramelized pineapple in the bread, about 250 grams for both loaves - probably could have used all of it, but wanting to make that diamond pattern on top, didn't want too many pieces of pineapple poking out.Re: the sugar, I found an article in the BBGA archive called "The Role of Supporting Ingredients in the Process of Bread Baking", written by Jeffrey Yankellow. Mr. Yankellow recommended, once sugar content hits a certain percentage, to mix the sugar into the dough in multiple stages because sugar competes with protein for water and the sugar can interfere with gluten development.I am so glad you liked this bread and hope you and your family enjoy it!:^) breadsong

Thanks also for the detailed explanation on how you used the pineapple....After posting the question I did find your mention of it in your mixing directions. I was simply looking in the wrong place :-/.

I have this on my list and was looking through my 'flavor' book- fun thing to do -and I am thinking I might add some banana too. Will have to work out the hydration and see what I come up with but it is always fun to have something new to 'toy' with and this bread seems fit for this warmer weather.

I'll let you know what happens when I get to it.

Thanks for the inspiration and I like Mini's idea about braiding too. Will have to see how the dough handles first.

My 'report' on your loaf because it jumped to the head of my list....Daughter only had to hear the word 'pineapple' and I knew I would get no peace until this loaf was done. (Actually, I can't blame her. Was all my idea :-)

First off I used a sourdough for leavening this loaf and, after consulting my 'Flavor Bible' to see if I could add anything else (I felt the desire tinker a bit.) I decided to add some bananas because my daughter LOVES them too which meant that I divided the pineapple portion in half to accommodate that change. I also cut the sugar % and used honey since the fruit was contributing a lot of sweetness to the bread already.

When caramilizing I cooked it way down so there was nothing to strain off. All went into the loaf which meant that I adjusted the hydration level too. (More tinkering I know but you know how it goes :-)

I always build my leavens throughout the day and then mix the final dough at night followed by a retarding time in the refrig. until morning. I followed that procedure with this loaf and it did really well. Last night the dough was very sticky, as I suspected it would be even after several S&Fs, but by this morning it had transformed into a nice, smooth, elastic dough that was easy to handle.

I ended up making 2 large loaves which I braided....not what Mini had in mind but I didn' t dare attempt that detailed work with my day's busy schedule. I also made a mini loaf, also braided, and a couple of buns for us to keep. (All other loaves going out to friends.)

Daughter hasn't tasted a bun yet so I have no flavor report as of yet. I will let you her opinion as soon as I know it :-)

Here are the photos of the loaves:

Sorry for the size of these. The usual tab for 'inserting' the photo was absent on my screne this time. Whole set up was different and I am not very clever at figuring these glitches out on my own....

Take Care and thanks for the inspiration :-)

Janet

P.S. Thanks for your explanation about the high sugar content and the effect on gluten devel. That was very evident last night when mixing. The retarding of this loaf made all the difference in this loaf gaining strength as it was very delicate even after quite a bit of mixing in my DLX. I didn't panic because I knew ahead of time what to expect.

Janet, those braids are so pretty - thank you so much for the report, and photos :^)I'll be looking forward to hearing how the bread tastes, with the sourdough and pineapple-banana combination.I'm glad you liked working with this dough, and that the retarding worked out so well - the dough braided beautifully! Your 'Flavor Bible' book looks very interesting - thanks for the reference - I didn't know about this book.(I have a book called 'The Flavor Thesaurus' by Niki Segnit and find lots of inspiration there).I'm sure your daughter and friends will love your bread - it looks just wonderful!:^) breadsong

Report from my daughter who told me she loved the texture which was very moist and soft. She agreed with your comment about it going well with ice cream therefore becoming a desert type of bread. I haven't heard from the friends and may not....all get busy so sometimes I hear back and sometimes not.

Thomaschacon mentioned the book I have and the one you have in one of his postings. I requested them at the library and instantly ordered both from Amazon. So far my preference is the Flavor Bible because of all of the listing and ideas that are in it. The format is really easy for me to work with and gives me tons of foods to choose from whereas the Flavor Thesaurus is not as thorough but she does have interesting info in it too but there are times I simply want lists - not paragraphs to read on just one combination.

Thanks for your kind words about the breads I baked and for the inspiration that lead to them :-).

Hi Varda,I loved the flavor contributed by the toasted sesame on the crust of the pide bread, and we enjoyed this one.The bread had 10% rye flour, and a very soft and fluffy crumb:Thank you so much for your comment!:^) breadsong

Hi Sylvia :^)Thank you so much!I posted pictures of the pide bread in my reply to Varda above.A filled version of Turkish Pide - it wouldn't be something like this, would it?:http://www.stirthepots.com/2010/02/isnt-it-a-pide.htmlI'm really looking forward to seeing your WFO version of this bread!:^) breadsong

So many variations just like pizza : ) I like a Greek version with the feta cheese, spinach, tomato, garlic and onion....or with grapes, nuts, goat cheese. I'm looking forward to some nice summer bakes...your Pineapple Bread is a great opening to the summer and so is your Turkish Pide.

I remember one time my father was heating up the grill. Mom and I had opened a pineapple too green to eat. Oops! (or so I thought) Dad had an idea and hacked it up into a few rings and wedges and threw it onto the grill to roast. Soon we were smelling baked apples! (Now you know where the name comes from!) I remember that delicious pineapple very well but can't remember for the life of me what else went on the grill that day! :)

What if the pineapple dough is separated into ropes and then woven ( like pie crust as opposed to braided) to get the pineapple diamonds? (I've got a woven place mat in front of me.) The ends could just be tucked under to make up the body of the fruit.

Hi Mini,Memories of good experiences and wonderful foods are so nice to recall :^)A 'woven' pineapple - what a good idea, from looking at your placemat!I'll have to try this bread again, as a woven-version, using a challah-type dough.Thanks so much, Mini!:^) breadsong

Hello grisdes,I just updated the post to note the dough weight in grams. Piloncillo sugar could definitely be used in this dough (I used it in the dough for this bread and really liked it, but decided to only use it to caramelize the pineapple this time).Isn't piloncillo such a flavorful sweetener? I hope you like using it in this bread, if you make it.Thank you so much for your comment!:^) breadsong

Thank you so much! It's hard not to be inspired and pushed by so many creative bakers like yourself. I do appreciate your encouragement. Know matter how good one thinks they are, there is always room for new adventures and to learn new techniques. I look forward to reading about your next creation.

Well you've done it again! You make the most amazing breads and pastries from the little inspirations you find around you such as that table cloth. I'm quite sure I could have looked at it a thousand times and never been inspired to create something as lovely as your pan de piña y piloncillo. I should send Chef James over in Maui the link to your post, (if that's OK with you?) I'm sure he'd love to see it. I think you did a great job of getting the cross hatch pattern on the bread considering how springy it was. Mini's idea sounds like a good method to try as well but wonder also if maybe the dough was a little stiffer next time it might take the scoring easier. Your bread looks and sounds absolutely delicious, especially with the caramelized pineapple and cinnamon included in the mix.

Hi Franko :^)Wow, what a nice comment, thank you!I don't think I would have thought of 'pineapple bread' when looking at that tablecloth if I hadn't made the pide bread first...can't thank you enough for locating that wonderful book for me :^)If you want to send a link to Chef James, I'd be honored!, and hope to visit his farm and restaurant as you did if we return to Maui.This dough was more intensively mixed and had more yeast than the pide bread, so will keep that in mind along with your suggestion for dough consistency when trying this one again. I must have been caramelizing this pineapple about the same time you were making your caramel-apple tarte Tatin!Thanks again, Franko - I really appreciate your kindness, and helpfulness!:^) breadsong

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